May 2024
Issue 20
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POETRY
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
In two directions, always The tension pulls Everyone thinks in absolutes these days A fuse waiting to go off Waiting to explode |
FICTION
Sierra Ott
The castle sleeps. Magic settles in every corner, weaving itself into cobwebs and thickly layered dust. It seeps into the stones, into the mortar, into the beams of the vaulted ceilings |
POETRY
Meghan Malone
If I showed you the whole world I worry you would realize you have every reason to be afraid and I, in turn, would fear for you |
FICTION
Simon Policy
Eliot watched the end of the world unfold from the comfort of his couch. He flipped through channels, eyes glossing over the news headlines that repeated phrases like “natural earthquakes” or “rapture” or “liberal agenda.” |
FICTION
Nora Sachdeva
"Are you sure you want to do this?" "I don't think you can graduate early, let alone graduate at all." "Your health is in jeopardy already, stop what you're doing now before it gets worse." |
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POETRY
Zael Johnson
Tacit giggling Electric euphoria Vindictive and plastic Semi trucks, clicking at every opportunity Mashed into a soup of perforated sheet metal, stirred thrice, spread on toast, and stolen |
FICTION
Max Mardesich
The workday is over. It hasn’t been very productive. The butterflies in my stomach feel more like bats, desperate to escape. |
POETRY
Adrian Lei
A requiem for the dreamers we have lost It’s quite blatantly obvious that a system has taken root amongst us No redeemer or alleviation from this fallacy |
POETRY
Ori Boozaglo
Sometimes I am the breeze that dances between sunflowers That caresses their petals and scatters their seeds in the soft, fertile soil |
FICTION
Nevo Naftalin-Kelman
Dong. The cold midnight air bites my face as the clocktower vibrates, the bell ringing under me. |
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FICTION
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
The king was born half dead. A sickly creature he was, small body weak and yellowed. The clergy held him very delicately, fingers placed along his flesh so as to make as little contact as possible. |
POETRY
Lei Lani Daniel
I hate it here. I really hate it here. Why do I hate it here? Because this isn’t my home. But it is. This castle is where I grew up. |
POETRY
Chloe Rappaport
Sundays smell like the soft summer breeze of your last teenage years they encompass the wind kissing your skin urging you to move on |
POETRY
Solana Schwarzinger-Reuter
The doors close, snapping me out of my daydream. I look around as the train starts moving; There are new people today, not only the normal dreary commuters. |
FICTION
Rory Danielson
“Are you done cleaning your room yet?” “I’m working on it, Mom!” Daniel growled, exasperated by Mrs. Crocker’s constant badgering. |
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FICTION
Adalilly Chu
Noah yawned as he sat in his black leather chair, more tired than usual. The security room was humid and stuffy. It even smelled like the fried chicken he’d had for lunch hours ago. |
FICTION
Maya Dang
The fact that Adeline Huang had become one of my closest friends was a true miracle: we were complete opposites and didn’t start on very good terms. |
FICTION
Sophia Mayhew
My mother knew what she’d name me long before I was born. Growing up she always told me how much of a gift I was. She had dreamed of a baby girl, dreamed of her precious daughter... |
FICTION
Scott Polishuk
I boarded eastbound ACE train 06 at San Jose. We started to move. It was any normal evening commute at 1st. I got out my wireless headphones and connected to the free Wi-Fi, as the train... |
2024 Emerging Writers
Each year, Redwood invites eighth graders at Berkeley public middle schools
to submit pieces for publication in our May issue.
Emerging Writers are guided through the revision process by experienced Redwood writers.
to submit pieces for publication in our May issue.
Emerging Writers are guided through the revision process by experienced Redwood writers.
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POETRY
Leen Alammar
The snow falls softly from the sky A pure white blanket, so dry and high The world is hushed, the air feels chill A winter wonderland, serene and still |
POETRY
Caitlin Simonds
The Moon creeps its way across the sky Stars crowd around it Praying they can catch glimpse of its beauty The dewy-eyed doe stops to stalk the Moon Her gaze is stuck on it |
FICTION
Isabel Song-Chin
It was dark and quiet outside. With scarcely anyone around, he slipped through the passageway, finding the steps leading to the platform. There sat a piano. |
POETRY
Adeline Limieux
Half a thousand years ago, As I was walking slow, A demon passing by said to me: I wish you could be around to see What will become of ‘your’ pine trees And I asked him What happens |
POETRY
Moral Alysse Walker
An afternoon, filled with gloom We sat and waited, I almost fainted, When we heard the news Ring! Ring! Ring! My hand jolted forward And through the phone |
March 2024
Issue 19
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FICTION
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
The city towered above me, aged stone buildings drenching the narrow alleyways in darkness. |
POETRY
Meghan Malone
Everything is different when the rain falls And the drops hit the side of a window pane And the ground’s craters fill with small lakes |
FICTION
Sierra Ott
The wind is fierce tonight. Every gust causes the overgrown rose bushes outside to scratch against my north-facing window, thorns clawing at the screen. |
FICTION
Zael Johnson
In a comfortable, plush room in a beautiful penthouse in Dubai, an old woman closed her eyes to sleep. She would not wake up. |
FICTION
Adrian Lei
A beacon of hope offers no repose to its viewers. He sat in the lighthouse in an exquisite pose. |
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FICTION
Nora Sachdeva
I’m scared. I feel I’m drifting out of my body. What happened? I can’t seem to remember. My hands are shivering. My legs are shaking. My arms are quivering. |
FICTION
Calliope Askins
Nothing went as planned. She could have saved them all. But the rift changed everything. It just appeared one day, splitting the sky in half. |
FICTION
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
We pulled into the driveway, the tires spinning in the slick mud and when we got out, the wind whipped our faces like a restless spirit. |
POETRY
Solana Schwarzinger-Reuter
The sun rises over the hill Breaking its way - Through the clouds - Lingering from the storm |
FICTION
Max Mardesich
Most people in this glorious, awful city, including me, are puppets, controlled by great puppet masters beyond our narrow view. |
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FICTION
Maya Dang
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Yinli asked, after our waiter had brought us a cup of coffee and two cups of juice for our beverages. |
FICTION
Ori Boozaglo
It had been a usual makeup-making morning and Riley showed up at my house around midday. |
January 2024
Issue 18
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FICTION
Zael Johnson
Standrew awoke with a splitting headache in a room that was much too bright. His gaze focused on the figure sitting across from him. Her expression was troubled. |
FICTION
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Three years. I had been counting. Three years since the boy vanished. Three years since the barrel. I was getting older. |
FICTION
Ori Boozaglo
My eyes fluttered open as I awoke from a deep sleep. The fire was crackling still, heating the room on this cold winter night. |
POETRY
Meghan Malone
I stretched my arms above my head Tossed my blanket aside I readied myself for the day Until I opened my mouth And no words came out |
FICTION
Max Mardesich
A lopsided grid of twinkling lights stretches out before me as I look out my office window. It feels as if every window is an eye, every person a parasite. |
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FICTION
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
The remnants of the daylight were receding over the horizon as I waited at the bus stop. There was no sound to be heard beside distant cicadas and leaves rustling... |
FICTION
Lei Lani Daniel
Lots of things are little — like humans. They are tiny. They are so small, they can make houses out of tree stumps. They are smaller than blueberries. |
FICTION
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Seattle was used to rain, but hadn’t seen anything like this in seventy years. The dusk air was bone-chilling, and everything was soaked. |
FICTION
Sierra Ott
Rust coats the old chain link fence, glowing bloody in the afternoon sunlight. It sticks in the hinges of the gate, producing a highly melodic scream as I try to pull it open. |
FICTION
Nevo Naftalin-Kelman
A bustling tavern full of life and light. Glasses clinking, a simple bard playing his harp, dice rattling across a table stacked high with coins. |
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FICTION
Maya Dang
The light breeze and the soft, deep, mellow cello music encompassed the tea house with moments from the spring as people started filing into the house |
FICTION
Nora Sachdeva
"Tim, do you have chameleon eyes or something?" Alia asks abruptly after our food arrives. "What?" "The first time we met, your eyes were blue. Then, at the archery range, your eyes were brown. |
October 2023
Issue 17
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FICTION
Sierra Ott
One day, I decided to clean out the spiderwebs behind my dresser. |
POETRY
Solana Schwarzinger-Reuter
A sky full of grey Everywhere the eye can see Rolling over the land Through the hills and mountains Spreading quickly |
FICTION
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
The lunch tasted bland, but there were traces of heat in the food — as much as an old microwave could power. |
FICTION
Sibyl Kollmer
She did not know what to do with the past. She had long become desensitized to certain things: a song she sang with them once, his eyes seemingly reborn. |
FICTION
Max Mardesich
My father stands in the bathroom, feet planted on the smooth blue tile. He stands firm like an old, gnarled tree, not moving at all. |
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FICTION
Nevo Naftalin-Kelman
The bell at the end of second period rings, and I sit in my seat for a few seconds as the chaos erupts around me. |
FICTION
Maya Dang
tella had been frowning at the stitching on the handkerchief that she’d been embroidering for the past 10 minutes, wondering why it was messier than usual, |
POETRY
Lei Lani Daniel
Maybe if you see the stars, They will see you watching. And they will find you. |
FICTION
Zoe Rettstatt
The bubbles floating above the Potions and Poisons door popped violently to signal the arrival of another client. |
POETRY
Meghan Malone
You fall and I reach out to catch you I always have I always will Even when the darkness surrounds you |
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FICTION
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Wooden supports creaked under the weight of Ursula’s bare feet as she strained to see over the hill. |
FICTION
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Clack, clack, clack. I was a carpet weaver. I worked in a small, strangely lit factory. I had never been outside. |
POETRY
Chloe Rappaport Crowther
my grandmother’s garden is filled with the laughter of a lost dream |
FICTION
Nora Sachdeva
He hands me a mug, steam flooding the top. “Here, take your meds.” I groan in frustration and take them out of his hand, sipping the hot tea. |
FICTION
Vivien Mossman
Sun-warmed steps border on too hot for the soles of my bare feet, making me skip as I head to my mother’s office. |
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2023-24 Academic Year
Editor-in-Chief:
Meghan Malone
Copy Chief:
Zael Johnson
Director, Emerging Writers Program:
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Managing Editor:
Eva Fostovsky- Geckler
Copy Editor:
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Editors:
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
Nora Sachdeva
Sierra Ott
Chloe Rappaport Crowther
Ori Boozaglo
Writers:
Lei Lani Daniel
Maya Dang
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Zael Johnson
Sibyl Kollmer
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
Meghan Malone
Max Mardesich
Vivien Mossman
Nevo Naftalin-Kelman
Sierra Ott
Chloe Rappaport Crowther
Zoe Rettstatt
Nora Sachdeva
Solana Schwarzinger-Reuter
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Faculty Sponsor:
Helen Zou
Editor-in-Chief:
Meghan Malone
Copy Chief:
Zael Johnson
Director, Emerging Writers Program:
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Managing Editor:
Eva Fostovsky- Geckler
Copy Editor:
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Editors:
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
Nora Sachdeva
Sierra Ott
Chloe Rappaport Crowther
Ori Boozaglo
Writers:
Lei Lani Daniel
Maya Dang
Luka Henrie-Naffaa
Zael Johnson
Sibyl Kollmer
Jasper Lovvorn-Black
Meghan Malone
Max Mardesich
Vivien Mossman
Nevo Naftalin-Kelman
Sierra Ott
Chloe Rappaport Crowther
Zoe Rettstatt
Nora Sachdeva
Solana Schwarzinger-Reuter
Shiva Swaminathan Strickland
Faculty Sponsor:
Helen Zou